138 THE WIDENING WAR 1942
Crete
Sardinia
Corsica
Malta
Lofoten
Islands
Altafjord
Pointe
de Saire
Berlin
St. Nazaire
Vannes
London
Tempsford
Bern
Rome
Bari
Calitri Monopoli
Gorgopotamos
Madrid
Stockholm
Foggia
SouthamptonNewhaven
Falmouth
Dieppe
Sainte-Honorine-
des-Pertes
Saint-Jouin-Bruneval
Bordeaux
Pessac
Lisbon
Gibraltar
Rjukan
Alta
Holy Loch
Giro
nde
B
a
lt
ic
S
e
a
North
Sea
M
ed
it
er
ra
ne
an
Se
a
Skag
er
ra
k
GREATER
GERMANY
ITALY
UNITED
KINGDOM
SPAIN
IRELAND
BULGARIA
PORTUGAL
HUNGARY
ALBANIA
SWITZERLAND
DENMARK
BELGIUM
MO
LD
A
V
IA
U S S R
A
R
C
T I
O C
C
E
A N
N
O
R
W
A
Y
S
W
E
D
E
N
F
I
N
L
A
N
D
SE
RB
IA
SLOV
AKI
A
PO
LA
N
D
VICHY^ FRANCE
FRE
NCH^
NORTH
AFRICA
T U R K
E Y
ROMANIA
NET
HE
RL
AN
D
S
CR
OA
TIA
YU
GO
SLA
VIA
OCCUPIED
FRANCE
GREECE
OSTMARK
(AUSTRIA)
Assault route
Diversionary raid
Attack on
aqueduct
OPERATION COLOSSUS FEBRUARY 10, 1941
In the first British airborne sabotage operation,
commandos were sent from Malta to southern
Italy to blow up an aqueduct near Calitri. As
a diversion, bombers concurrently attacked
railroad yards at Foggia to the north. The raiders
succeeded in damaging their target, but all were
captured as prisoners of war; their anti-Fascist
Italian translator was tortured and executed.
1
△ Aftermath of a failed raid
German troops inspect a knocked-out Canadian Churchill
infantry tank after the Dieppe Raid of August 1942. The
Allies did not succeed in their objective of taking the port.
Mar 4, 1941 Allied
commandos disrupt
industrial production on
the Lofoten Islands.
Sep 20–22, 1943 Six
midget submarines damage
the German battleship
Tirpitz in a fjord.
Feb 27–28, 1942
Raiders capture a
German radar site.
Mar 15–16, 1941 Operation
Savanna, the first to employ
SOE-trained Free French forces,
fails in an attack on Vannes airfield.
Jun 7–8, 1941 Free French
saboteurs parachuted
from England destroy
an electrical installation.
Sep 12–13, 1942
A commando raid in
Normandy fails, with
all the commandos
captured or killed.
Oct 3, 1942 A raid
on Sark leaves
three Germans
dead, leading to
German reprisals.
JAN 1941 JUL JAN 1942 JUL JAN 1943 JUL
1
2
3
4
5
TIMELINE
THE UNDERGROUND WAR
While Hitler’s armies rolled across Europe, another, more clandestine
war was going on within the occupied lands. Allied operatives carried
out surprise raids, while local resistance groups, supported from London,
rose up against their oppressors in a variety of ways, such as producing
propaganda, sabotage, and direct armed conflict.
KEY
Allied territory, 1942
Axis territory,
occupations, and
cobelligerents, 1942
Neutral territory, 1942
Main SOE
operations area
SOE main bases
SOE secondary
bases
Raids and attacks
by SOE
Sabotage
Resistance
Partisan support
Communications
Supplies delivered
by air
Aug 14–15, 1942 British
commandos cross the
Channel to attack
coastal defenses
in Normandy.
Sep 3, 1942 Allied
commandos raid the
Casquets lighthouse
in the occupied
Channel Islands.
Jul 22, 1940 The SOE is
formed under the leadership
of the British Labour Party
politician Hugh Dalton.
Jan 23–25, 1941 Operation
Rubble sees five Norwegian
merchant ships run a
German blockade from
neutral Sweden to Britain.
US_138-139_Raids_and_Subversions.indd 138 20/03/19 3:29 PM